Frustrating Social Media Antics That Should Be Sent Into Exile

We recently held a debate with local SEO companies on why some companies are encountering troubles with their social media campaign. While many brands have received tremendous response and get comments, likes and shares flowing like an avalanche, there are many who are not getting the expected returns, or worse, no returns at all. Is this because of being misguided and using the wrong antic? The debate came out with many mistakes to be avoided, and trust me; they are the silliest ones which are definitely goanna make you wonder….

You are not socializing

The bottom-line is that, you are required to be social on a social networking website. This is the reason why you are here. Treat social networking websites as your own society where you need to interact with people very often. Not doing so, you will be left all alone, there will be no one to like you, and no one to share what you think. Engage with your audience. The followers on your social networking profile should not be taken for granted. Your brand has a big responsibility on its shoulders. Grab this unique opportunity to connect with the audience not only by posting content, but also through some interesting stuff which is not a part of the promotion idea. Ask your social media team to mix up the stuff with some unique images and fun stuff as well.

Identify your market and the region, which you are going to target. Identify the buyer persona in order to ensure that you give out relevant stuff and interact with the right kind of people. Just remember, that you will be dealing with a broad diversity of people.

Don’t Act Like An Amateur

Make sure that you hire a team of social media experts that are professionals. They should have an insight of your business, as they are the ones who would be communicating with your target market, and in some cases, in different regions. Having an amateur control your message on social media will only add to your worries. The experts will not only bring experience but should have a clear idea of what people are actually looking for. They’ll have an intuitive approach to identify the most admired and effective content, which will give your social media profile a boost.

There are times when people, probably your competitors, will be looking to throw stones at you. These are times that will test you, and the team should know how to tackle such a situation.

Social media is all about sharing and connecting. I mentioned earlier that you could post some fun content, however, make sure that you are not resorting to content that may be offensive to your audience as it will disrupt your online reputation. Your team should be keeping a track of all the metrics related to your social media accounts. This includes tracking followers, the content they like and also what they share. Keep a practice of thanking your biggest supporters. They’ll be your biggest brand advocates.

Also, lay down a strategy which defines everything about your social media campaign. Can you start a business without a solid business plan? Similarly, a perfectly defined strategy is inevitable for any social media project.

Failing to leverage the opportunities

Social media is the most cost-effective and efficient platform to promote your brand. Companies don’t have the luxury of ignoring the vast opportunities it has to offer. A simple tweet, like, share or comment has become the main focus for social media marketing because of the potential vast exposure. Some great insight will be to track the responses of your customers. You should encourage people to take an action on your posts to increase engagement.

You always want to make the best use of opportunities. Just imagine… how many debates, forums, and polls are conducted online on social media platforms every single day. These features enable us to realize the needs of the consumer which in turn, helps us in redefining many of our goals. Social media has, in fact, played a major role in raising the standards of or simply degrading your brand. Major brands like Nestle and United Airlines have suffered major hits with their sales, stock prices and their overall reputation. Nestle suffered a massive blow when it was termed as a “killer” of orangutans and the contributor of de-forestation. What followed up was an overwhelming response where Nestle’s profile page was flooded with negative comments. In another instance, professional musician Dave Carroll posted a satiric video on United Airlines when the baggage handlers destroyed his guitar. The videos went viral costing the airlines a major setback for their reputation.

Overlooking not-so-popular social media websites

Do some research and you will find some less popular, but highly effective social media websites on the web. Though Facebook and Twitter are the most popular, Google+, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Instagram have already started establishing themselves as very efficient platforms. Also, there are a number of other smaller social media platforms which helps you in finding the niche audience and if approached carefully, they can give higher returns. Businesses could experiment with very specific markets and demographics by exploring these less popular sites and give a boost to their brand in an exciting way.

There are also some privacy issues, as Facebook and Twitter are the hot-spots for hackers and often your personal information does get leaked in various ways. So, it is a safer bet to try working on other niche-specific social media networks which are not so famous with hackers. Also, they provide you with the option of targeting visitors from varied locations.

Not Monitoring Your Social Media Performance

This is the biggest mistake that businesses make. Of course, it is not going to be in a business owners’ daily activity to monitor the performance. But, they should be regularly getting updates on the performance of social media campaign and how much it appeals to their audience. Not only the owner, but it also gives the experts a clear idea on what is working and what not.

The below mentioned tools will be helpful in monitoring your social media:

Just one message: Don’t take social media for granted. It has high abilities to boost or destroy your brand. One wrong step and your whole brand reputation will be disrupted. Just opening a Facebook or Twitter account with your company’s name is not social media marketing. It actually involves a lot of technicalities which slowly but surely helps you in gaining the audience which in turn helps in promoting your brand. Ignoring social media is equivalent to ignoring consumers.

Myself Sanket Patel the Founder of Blurbpoint.com, a leading SEO Company since 2006. I am a good researcher of Inter­net Marketing, Brand Devel­op­ment, Online Rep­u­ta­tion Man­age­ment & Search Engine Opti­miza­tion Tech­niques.

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5 Comments on "Frustrating Social Media Antics That Should Be Sent Into Exile"

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MalharBarai

1 year 7 months ago

Good points Sanket.

Intrigued by the point 'Overlooking not-so-popular social media websites' though. How many platforms can you really be around. I advise folks to stick to 2-3 platforms that are closer to their niche and work around on their content to be noticed rather than spraying things everywhere. My 2 cents!!
My recent post Old SEO vs New SEO – #SEOTalk Topic

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Sanket Patel

1 year 7 months ago

Thanks for your kind words Malhar!

I hope you enjoyed the post.

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Shawn Walsh

1 year 7 months ago

Thank you Sanket! Nice post. The highlights i took remind me to stay vigilant on quality and social engagement. I need to always remember social marketing is about being social.

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Ryan Biddulph

1 year 7 months ago

Get social to use social effectively. If you chat people tend to dig your social style. I love the tips Sanket!

Open up. Chat. Being open and listening proves you care about your friends or customers. Social media success stories listen and put out fires fast. Or they do not engage irate people who have no right being irate. The customer is wrong sometimes lol…..in these moments let them rant and get out of their way.